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I saw that my virtualization tool does not virtualize my CPU. But, it virtualizes everything else. I want to know what could be the reason, advantage/disadvantage of virtualizing a CPU.

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  • why do you think that your "virtualization tool" does not virtualize the cpu? May 11, 2013 at 20:42

1 Answer 1

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You need a CPU for your VM. Either the real on or an emulated one.

If you mostly use the real CPU then you have the advantage of native performance.

If you virtualise/emulate a CPU then:

  1. You gain flexibility (e.g. an AMD/Intel CPU could emulate an ARM or MIPS CPU)
  2. But you loose speed since emulation is a lot slower.
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  • So, in plain terms, a virtualized cpu's instructions need to be translated to the real cpu's instructions, right ? and translation slows execution.
    – user42117
    May 11, 2013 at 18:10
  • Hennes ... he so useful
    – Griffin
    May 11, 2013 at 18:13
  • Translation indeed slows down execution. Sometimes a lot. If you want to test the speed difference on your computer try Qemu. It allows you to both emulate a CPU or use the real one.
    – Hennes
    May 11, 2013 at 18:25

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